WAIRARAPA COLLEGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 December 1941, Page 4

WAIRARAPA COLLEGE

VISIT BY BISHOP BENNETT. ADDRESS. TO CHILDREN. A visit to Wairarapa College was paid this morning by the Right Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa. The Bishop was accompanied by Mr W. R. Nicol, chairman of the Board of Government, Mrs Hair, a member of the board, Mr N. M. Boddington (secretary) and the Ven. Archdeacon E. J. Rich.

Mr F. J. Gair, Principal of the College, in introducing Bishop Bennett to the pupils and in welcoming him, pointed out that the chief guest was one of a family famous as orators in the pulpit, on the platform and on the air; not only was Bishop Bennett a great church leader but he was also a “man.”

Bishop Bennett, in addressing the College, reminded the pupils how fortunate they were to enjoy the amenities of an institution which was a credit to the district. Let them, he said, give thought to the importance of the Church, the oldest institution in the Empire, and, as young New Zealanders, sympathetic understanding to the problems of the Maori race, for the relations between Maori and Pakeha were important. He was surprised not to see more Maori children present in the assembly; the Maori race was increasing at three times the rate of the pakeha. Particularly interesting to the children was the use by the speaker of Maori proverbs to drive home the value of trustworthiness and character. At the conclusion of his address, which was interpersed with happy asides, Bishop Bennett was warmly applauded by the gathering. The children sang the Lord’s Prayer and one verse of “O God our help in Ages Past.”.